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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



SHINTO, OR THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 



BY 



ROMYN HITCHCOCK. 



From the Report ot the U. S. National Museum, 1891. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1893. 



7 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



SHINTO, OR THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 



BY 



ROMYN HITCHCOCK. 



From the Report of the U. S. National Museum, 1891, 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1893. 



-£>V> 



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fr 



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nj.-r 15 190* 



SHINTO, OR THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 



By Romyn Hitchcock. 



Old records — Kami — Heaven — Generation of Kami — Creation of the ivorld — The legend 
of hades — Birth of the Sun-Goddess and of Susano — Myth of the Sun-Goddess — The 
Susano myth — The sacred sword of Ise — Heavenly princes sent to subdue Terres- 
trial deities — The Mikado's divine ancestors — The first Mikado — Shinto as a reli- 
gion — Influence of Shinto upon the national character — Liturgies and form of ivor- 
ship — Tendency of religious thought in Japan. 

Authentic history in Japan begins only in the fifth century. What- 
ever is earlier than that belongs to the age of tradition, which is 
supposed to maintain an unbroken record for ten thousand years. 
Intercourse with Korea is said to date from the middle of the second 
century B. c. The Emperor Sujin (97-30 B. c.) is reputed to have re- 
c?ived tribute from several Korean states ; but the art of writing was 
not introduced until about the fifth century, and it is scarcely credible 
that a progressive and imitative people like the Japanese would have 
neglected such a useful accomplishment for five centuries after having 
seen it practiced in Korea. These dates are therefore doubtful. We 
may infer that the earliest intercourse between China and Japan was 
about the time when Chinese writing was introduced. 

Previous to that time the national religion of the Japanese was a 
very simple form of ancestral worship combined with nature- worship, 
founded upon a most remarkable and complex mythology which as- 
scribed to the people divine origin and descent. It is this faith which 
is now known by the name Shinto. The word is of Chinese origin, but 
it is obvious that the cult which it designates must have developed 
many centuries before any trace of Chinese influence was felt in Japan. 
Since then, however, Shinto has changed so much in its ceremonials and 
external character that it is now scarcely to be found in its original 
simplicity in any part of Japan. Indeed, it is only by the study of the 
oldest books that we have come to know fairly well what pure Shinto 
was. First came the teachings of Confucius, which spread rapidly and 
were received with the greatest favor throughout Japan. At the pres- 
ent day they still constitute an essential part of a Japanese education. 
Then came a few Buddhist images and sutras from Korea, in the year 
552 A. d.;* but it was not until the famous priest, Kobo Daishi, in the 

* As related in the Nihon-gi. 

489 



490 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 

ninth century, ingeniously identified the various Buddhist saints with 
the Shinto deities, that the new faith became popular and finally almost 
supplanted the other. Then arose different schools of Shinto, and now 
we find the two religions borrowing* from each other, until it is some- 
times confusing to decide whether a certain temple is Buddhistic or 
Shinto, or both. 

The popular mythology of Japan suggests to the mind fabulous beasts 
and dragons, rishi and sennin — old men of the mountain solitudes hav- 
ing magic powers — imps, and innumerable spirits of earth and air. But 
most of these have come from China or distant India. They have no 
place in the primitive worship of the people. Even so it is with the 
ancient books, for they too were compiled at a time when Chinese ideas 
had begun to influence the imagination of the writers, and all of them 
require the most critical study to eliminate foreign elements. To learn 
what the native beliefs were, it is necessary to adhere strictly to purely 
Japanese accounts, industriously comparing different texts in order to 
discover what was originally a part of the records. This the Japanese 
scholars have faithfully done. The difficulties have been very great. 
Although writing was originally introduced from China or Korea, there 
is a style of composition which from the beginning has been distinctively 
Japanese. But the old language is very different from that now in use. 
It is difficult to understand, the sense is often obscure, and there are 
many words handed down from very ancient time, the meanings of which 
were already forgotten by the old transcribers, who wrote them down 
phonetically. 

The oldest Japanese book known is the Ko-ji-ki, Record of Ancient 
Matters, a translation of which, by Prof. Basil Hall Chamberlain, was 
published in the year 1882. The original work dates from 711 A. D. 
The Emperor Temmu (673-686 A. d.), desiring to preserve the ancient 
traditions in a pure form, had the records of the chief families examined 
and compared. A member of his household committed the whole to 
memory. After the death of the emperor, the Empress Geinmio (708- 
714 A. D.) had the record written down as it was recited. 

The authenticity of this book as a true record of the ancient lore of 
Japan is too strong to be questioned. It relates a mythology remark- 
ably complex and fantastic, but withal consistent and connected. Its 
age can not be estimated. It must have grown through many centu- 
ries, for when the Ko-ji-ki was written, it was a completed system and 
the origin and meaning of its rich symbolism had been already forgot- 
ten. Some of the language is certainly older than the sixth century 
and some dates from before the fourth. 

Next to the Ko-ji-ki there is a larger but less reliable work, the M- 
hon-gi, or Chronicles of Japan, dated 720 A. D., which is more affected by 
Chinese influences. There are also numerous commentaries by Japa- 
nese scholars. The Nihon -gi has not been translated, but in the Annales 
des Empereurs du Japan (Mpon o da'i itsi ran), by Klaproth, 1834, a 
portion is translated with suggestive notes. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 491 

Next in value to the translation of the Ko ji ki we have the extended 
review of the writings of Japanese scholars, with quotations from their 
works, by Mr. E. M. Satow. There are other disconnected sources of 
information, but most of our knowledge of the native literature of Shinto 
is due to the patient and thorough work of Chamberlain and Satow. 

KAMI. 

The Shinto mythology is an account of the divine ancestry of the 
Mikado and his people. It is traced back to the creation of the world. 
These divine ancestors, the spirits which inhabit their heaven or still 
reside in temples and wayside shrines controlling the affairs of mortals, 
are known as " kami." The word is usually translated " deity" or " god," 
but our language has no proper equivalent. Kami are only superior 
beings. They may be either heaven-born, celestial deities, or the 
departed spirits of emperors, wise men or heroes. It is doubtful if 
immortality is one of their attributes. Some of them, we are told, die 
or disappear. They are by no means always good or virtuous, but 
they possess many human characteristics. 

The Mikado joins the innumerable company of kami after death. 
Departed ancestors are the kami of the family and these dwell around 
the household shrine. There are kami to be worshiped by all the peo- 
ple, others of only local importance; some are near and others so dis- 
tant that it is not worth while to think of them. 

Whatever object, animate or inanimate, is supposed to possess myste- 
rious or supernatural powers may be called kami. " The fox and the 
dragon and goblins are eminently miraculous and dreadful creatures." 
The fox has a very prominent place in the folk-lore of Japan, and his 
influence upon men is greatly feared. Hence there are many shrines 
to the fox kami in the land. 

The phenomena of nature, such as thunder and lightning, inanimate 
objects, rocks, seas, mountains, rivers, plants and trees, may be desig- 
nated kami. Often there seems to be no thought of impersonation. 
The kami may be the thing itself, or at other times a mysterious power 
that dwells or moves therein. 

In certain other respects a kami is a remarkable conception. By a 
peculiar partitive process, not easily understood, the powers or qualities 
associated with an individual kami may be divided and exercised by 
several distinct personalities, which are, at the same time, integral 
parts of the original conception. In other words, a single deity may be 
worshiped under different names, which designate specific attributes 
or functions of that deity, and each of these names may be applied to a 
separate personality. As an example, the Goddess of Food, Toyo-uke- 
bime (Abundant-Food-Lady), also known as Uke-mochi-no-kami, or 
Food Possessor, is worshiped as Kuku-nochi-no-kami, Producer of 
Trees, and as Kayami-hirne, the Parent of Grasses. This deity is per- 
haps, as Satow suggests, a personification of the earth. As a more 



492 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 

curious and striking illustration of the exercise of different functions 
under changed personality, Ave may refer to O-kuni-nushi, who was 
once the great ruler of the world. He was overcome and deposed, as 
we shall learn further on, and became the chief deity of Hades. In 
this capacity he is worshiped also in two other characters — as a Gentle 
Spirit which pardons and as a Bough Spirit which punishes. These 
two spirits have separate existences. At one time, while the deity was 
engaged in the task of civilizing the world, and was in need of assist- 
ance, another deity came to him from the sea and proffered aid. 
O-kuni-nushi did not recognize him and asked who he was. The deity 
answered, " I am thy saki-tama," meaning thy spirit that confers 
blessings. 

heaven. 

Like many other peoples, the Japanese believe that heaven was once 
very near the earth, but they have no account of how it became sepa- 
rated from and raised above the world. Formerly it was connected with 
the earth by means of a " floating bridge" or a "rock boat," or a "pillar 
of earth," whereby the kami could pass from one place to the other at 
will. The nature of this connection is very vaguely expressed in 
the records. Satow conceives that the "floating bridge of heaven" 
was the wind. 

Heaven itself was the abode of the celestial kami, but it was freely 
visited by the kami who lived on earth. It was not boundless space, 
for its area was limited. Susano made the circuit of its boundary. Tt 
was a counterpart of what was known on earth — a country like Japan 
in the blue sky, having a great river with a stony bed, such as the 
traveler in Japan knows very well, a mine from which iron was taken 
for the sacred mirror and fertile fields which furnished seed for the ter- 
restrial harvest. It was not regarded as a bourne where the souls of 
the dead would find a resting place. It was only the particular abode 
of those kami of the early generations who are distinguished as the 
celestial kami. 

GENERATION OF KAMI — THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 

The preface to the Kojiki begins thus: u Now when chaos had begun 
to condense, but form and force were not yet manifest and there was 
nought named, nought done, who could know its shape ? Nevertheless, 
heaven and earth first parted, and the three deities performed the com- 
mencement of creation; the passive and active essences* then devel- 
oped and the Two Spirits became the ancestors of all things." To 
learn the origin of the first three deities we must turn to the Kojiki 



* The preface is not a part of the original work, but a sort of introduction or gen- 
eral review by the author of the written copy. It embodies some ideas of his own, 
which, as this allusion to the "passive and active essences," are foreign to the book 
itself. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 493 

itself. They were born, as it were, spontaneously, " in the Plain of 
High Heaven." They were the Deity-Master-of-the- August- Center of- 
Heaven, the High- August-Producing- Wondrous-Deity, and the Divine- 
Producing- Wondrous-Deity. These three kami were "born alone and 
hid their persons" — in other words, they disappeared or died immedi- 
ately, and we hear of them no more. So with many links in the strange 
story before us, they are formed and disappear before we know their 
purpose or design, leaving gaps so blank that no effort of the imagina- 
tion can complete the chain. The reader will be surprised at the long 
and curious names of the ancient kami. These names also are a puz- 
zle; but the time may come when they will possess more significance. 

In the passage above quoted there is a reference to the active and 
passive essences. This is not a Japanese idea, but essentially Chinese. 
To illustrate how great are the difficulties in the way of eliminating 
the influences of Chinese thought from the old books, as well as to 
afford an idea of the style of the works themselves, the following quo- 
tation from the Mhongi will suffice. Before the earth and heaven had 
separated, " chaos, having the form of an egg, tossed its waves like an 
agitated sea. It contained, however, the germs of all things; those 
which were pure and transparent rose and formed heaven, while those 
which were gross and opaque precipitated and formed the earth . . . 
A divine being or kami was born in the midst. An island of soft earth 
floated on the waters. Then appeared a thing like the stalk of a plant 
which transformed into a kami . . . the first of seven celestial 
spirits." * The story in the Mhongi is far more attractive than the bare 
record in the Kojiki. 

The growing plant is a strange conception, more fully recorded in 
the Kojiki. The latter work tells us that two deities were born 
from "a thing that sprouted up like unto a reed shoot when the 
earth, young and like unto floating oil, drifted about medusa-like." 
This strange thing was suspended in space like a cloud. We are told 
that it became the sun, but immediately after we read that as it grew 
upwards it spread out infinitely as a cloud from a mountain top and 
formed heaven. A part grew downward and formed the moon. This 
is very confusing, but it is interesting in connection with the myth of 
the Sun-goddess, indicating that the sun existed long before the birth 
of Amaterasu, who, by some authorities, is regarded as the sun itself, 
and not as a deity personifying or dwelling in the sun. 

A great number of kami were born in succession for various more 
or less obvious purposes, but to enumerate them would serve no useful 
purpose. There was a course of spontaneous generation whereby five 
"heavenly deities" and seven " divine generations" were produced, all 
of whom, except the last two born, "hid their persons," disappeared or 
died, for all kami are not immortal. These two were named respectively 
Izanagi, "The Male-who-invites," and Izanami, "The Female- who-in- 

* Translated from Klaproth, Ann ales rtes Empereurs <ln Japan. 



494 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 

vites." They were commanded by the heavenly deities, who gave them 
a jeweled spear, to create the drifting land. They created the world, 
which was then only Japan. Standing on the floating bridge of heaven 
they thrust the end of the jeweled spear into the waste of waters and 
stirred the brine until it went curdle-curdle, and the drops that fell 
from the spear piled up and became the island Onogoro. now un- 
known. 

The expression " bridge of heaven " is variously interpreted by au- 
thors. Some take it literally as meaning an actual bridge between 
heaven and earth. The word hashi signifies not only a bridge, but it 
may apply to anything which fills or bridges over space. The Sun-god- 
dess, as will be seen, traveled from earth to heaven on the Ame-no-mi- 
hashira, which may be the wind. But most native authorities regard 
it as a more substantial structure, for we read of the heavenly rock- 
boat, Ame-no-iha-fune, and also of stairs, reminding one of Jacob's lad- 
der, while a later conception is a pillar of earth which afterwards fell 
and formed a range of high mounds in Harima, near Miyadzu, in 
Tango. The length of this range is 22,290 feet — presumably the dis- 
tance from earth to heaven in the olden time. 

The two creator gods descended from their place upon the island 
they had made, and after a short courtship, the details of which are 
too objectionable for translation, they gave birth to a child without 
bones, cartilagenous and unable to walk. This child, well known to 
the Japanese as Hirugo, also named Ebisu, one of the household gods, 
they placed in a basket of reeds and let him float away like a Japa- 
nese Moses. He did not die, but his story is too special for consideration 
here. They then gave birth to the eight* islands of Japan, beginning 
with Awaji at the eastern entrance to the Inland Sea. 

The first island born to this couple was named Aha, but for some 
reason this, like the child Hirugo, was not perfect. The parents in- 
quired of the Heavenly Deities why this was so. The latter resorted 
to divination and they soon discovered the reason. When the creator 
gods descended upon the mythical Onogoro, they walked around it in 
opposite directions, and when they met the woman was the first to 
speak. This was apparently contrary to the etiquette of even those 
early days, and it was impossible to make a good world if the deities 
were so careless of proper ceremonies. They then went around again 
as before, when the man spoke first, with subsequent satisfactory re- 
sults. 

After giving birth to the eight islands, they begot a long series of 
deities to govern them, and for a long time, as we may infer from sub- 

* The number eight frequently occurs in the Shinto mythology and seems to he 
the most perfect and fortunate number. Japan was known as "the land of the 
eight great islands." Yezo was then unknown. There was a serpent with eight 
heads and eight tails; there were eight thunder deities, and in the myth of Ainater- 
asu there is described a string of jewels eight feet long; there were eight hundred 
myriad deities, etc. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 495 

sequent allusions in the records, Japan was inhabited by deities, good 
and bad, who only gave up their authority in the land to make way for 
the ancestors of the Mikado and his people. But it would be tedious 
and unprofitable to even repeat the names of the immediate family of 
Izanami and Izanagi. It is rather a large one and few of its . mem- 
bers are still known to fame. But as an illustration of the manner of 
naming the ancient deities, which, although I am informed it is not 
strictly peculiar to Japanese mythology, is certainly one of its extra- 
ordinary characteristics, several names will be given with Prof. 
Chamberlain's translations. Such are Oho-Tcoto-oshi-wo-no-lcami, Deity - 
great-male-of-the-great- thing ; Iha-tsuchi-biko-no-Mmi y Deity- rock-earth- 
prince; Kaza-ge-tsu-waka-no-oshi-wo-no-Jcami, Deity-youth-of- the- wind- 
breath- the- great-male ; Tori-no-iha-Jcusa-bune-no-Jcamij Deity-bird's-rock- 
camphor-tree boat.* (See also pp. 498 and 502). 

Izanami gave birth to thirty-three deities, the last of whom were 
the Deity -princess-of- great-food and the Fire-burning-swift-male-deity, 
which, because of his fiery nature, caused the death of Izanami when 
she bore him. Izanagi was so grieved at the death of his wife that he 
forthwith drew his sword and cut off the head of the child. From the 
drops of blood on the sword and from various parts of the body of the 
child, arose sixteen more kami, but we must pass them by. The Fire- 
deity, the last born of Izanami, who was so cruelly treated by his 
father, became immediately the ruler of the under world. Presumably 
it was his spirit which descended there. 

THE LEGEND OF HADES. 

When Izanami died she descended to the under world — Hades. The 
Chinese characters literally mean the " Yellow Stream/' the Chinese 
designation of the under world. It is the habitation of the souls of 
the dead, for the shintoist has neither a paradise nor a hell. It is a 
land of gloom and darkness. 

To this region Izanagi followed, wishing to see his wife once more. 
He broke off a large tooth from his comb, and, lighting it as a torch, 
entered the gloomy portals. His wife sent messengers to prevent his 
approach, but he persisted in his search until he found her. But her 
body was a mass of corruption. In her head dwelt the Great-Thunder, 
in her breast the Fire-Thunder, in other parts of her body the Black- 
Thunder, Cleaving-Thunder, Earth-Thunder, Bumbling-Thunder, and 
the Couchant-Thunder, in all the eight thunder deities. Izanami was 



*This deity is an example of an inanimate object, a boat, raised to the rank of a 
kami for important service. This boat is variously described by authors. It is said 
to be the boat in which the boneless child, Hirugo, was set adrift, already described 
as a boat made of reeds. The reader must be prepared for some inconsistencies as 
well as startling conceptions in this narrative. The most the writer can hope for is 
to give a reasonably intelligible account of the Shinto mythology as a whole, leav- 
ing the details to be filled in by future researches. 



496 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 

angry and ashamed to be thus seen by her husband, and ordered the 
Ugly Female of Hades, the eight thunder deities and a host of war- 
riors to pursue him. He escaped from these, but when Izanami herself 
took up the chase she overtook him. But he blocked up the Pass of 
Hades with a great stone, and they stood on opposite sides of it and 
took leave of each other, or, according to some authors, divorced each 
other. Izanami could not join her husband because she had eaten food 
from the fire of Hades. How like this is to the story of Persephone 
and the pomegranate. We must omit the details of this story. 

Dr. J. Edkins is disposed to regard the Japanese conception of the 
under world as derived from China, in which country it can be traced 
back to 721 b. c. The divinity Tai-shan was the Taoist ruler of the 
souls of the dead. Fire worship, which Dr. Edkins refers to in this 
connection, although not unknown in Japan, does not appear to have 
been much practiced. When Izanagi descended to Hades she assumed 
supreme authority. As she undertook the pursuit of Izanagi, she 
feared to leave the fire deity to his own devices, lest he should do harm 
to the world. So she created the deities of clay and of water to re- 
strain him. This fire deity plays but a very small part in the mytho- 
logy ; even his period of rule in Hades was very short. The most we 
can say regarding fire worship is, that a peculiar form of fire-drill is 
known in Japan, which was used once a year until quite recently at one 
of the Idzumo temples for producing fire. This apparatus has already 
been described by the writer.* Another similar drill is in the museum 
at Tokio. The hypothesis of Dr. Edkins,f that the origin of the Japa- 
nese cosmogony is to be found in the fire worship of Persia and the 
worship of Ormuzd in India, China and Mongolia, about the sixth cen- 
tury b. c, is plausible at first sight; but it is founded upon a presump- 
tion of early intercourse between the countries, which, as we have seen, 
is not borne out by research. Even should it prove true, the develop- 
ment of the Shinto mythology has certainly been in lines peculiarly in- 
dependent and characteristic. I can not bring myself to admit for it 
such a comparatively late origin as the sixth century B. c. 

The under world of the ancient Japanese may have been quite like 
the Chinese and Persian idea, but the Japanese of the present day are 
a progressive people, and with them there is advancement in the under 
world as upon earth. The Ise pilgrims have many more or less un- 
tuneful sougs which they chant as they slowly tramp along, and here 
is one which I heard in the evening at a native hostelry, where I stopped 
one rainy night, on my pilgrimage to the ancient shrines. It was 
written down for me by the pretty daughter of the house, and after- 
wards translated by a student, Mr. K. Nagai. 

* See Hough, Walter, " Fire-making apparatus," Report U. S. National Museum, 
1888, p. 552. 

t Persian Elements iu Japanese Legends. Trans. Asiatic Society of Japan, xvi, 
1-9. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 497 

An Ise Mairi. 

Now that Hades is enlightened by the knowledge of. the present age, the souls of 
the dead cross the river Sandzu * on steamers, while all places in the realm are 
connected by a network of telegraph lines. The Jizo (idol of the Buddhists) who 
reigns in Sai no kawara (where the souls of children go), disguised as a man of the 
fashionable world, stands among the children in the dress of a modern school- 
master. 

The last line is a sly cut at the village schoolmaster in his foreign 
clothes. 

BIRTH OF THE SUN GODDESS AND OF SUSANO. 

Izanagi was defiled by his visit to Hades, and went to a river to 
cleanse himself. Among the many kami which arose from each article 
of clothing as he disrobed, and as he bathed, three only deserve ex- 
tended notice. These are named Amaterasu, the Sun-goddess; Tsuki- 
yomi-no-kani, the Moon-god, and Susano-no-mikoto, one of the most 
remarkable personages in this strange mythology. 

Amaterasu was born from the right eye of Izanagi. She was bright, 
splendid, and was appointed to rule the Plain of High Heaven. She 
received a necklace of precious stones, which reminds one of the mega- 
tama and lcudatama found in ancient Japanese tombs, and ascended to 
heaven by the ame-no-mi-hashira, where she rules as the Sun-goddess. 
From her, as we shall see, the Mikado traces his ancestry. 

Amaterasu is worshiped as the deity of the sun. The sun is itsell 
regarded as the goddess visible, and yet there is some inconsistency of 
views in this connection. Light and darkness were known before her 
birth, for Izanagi required a torch in the under world. When we come 
to the great myth of the Sun-goddess hiding in a cave, we shall be 
told that darkness prevailed in heaven and earth until she again ap- 
peared. 

The Moon-god was born from Izanagi's right eye,f and iroin his 
august nose was born Susano, who became ruler of the land. He was 
a very impetuous and troublesome deity. Not being quite satisfied 
with his position he began to weep, "and the fashion of his weeping 
was such as by his weeping to wither the green mountains into withered 
mountains, and to dry up all the rivers and seas," and the sound of 
bad deities a was like unto flies in the fifth moon." So Izanagi ex- 
pelled him from the land, and he forthwith ascended to heaven, where- 
upon all the mountains and all the country quaked, and the Sun- 
goddess was alarmed by the great noise. But he said to her, "I have 
no evil intent. It is only that when the Great-august-deity, our 
father, spoke, deigning to inquire the cause of my weeping, I said : 



* The Buddhist Styx. 

f Some Japanese authors maintain that Susano was the Moon-god, born of Iza- 
nagi's right eye. According to Chinese lore, the sun and moon were born from the 
eyes of Puanku. 

SM 91, PT 2 32. 



498 

1 1 wail because I wish to go to my deceased mother's land' (Hades); 
whereupon the Great-august-deity said: 'Thou shalt not dwell in this 
land/ and deigned to expel me with a divine expulsion. It is, there- 
fore, solely with the thought of taking leave of thee that I have as- 
cended hither." Then they swore to each other from opposite banks 
of the tranquil river of heaven, and from the mist of the breath of 
each various new deities were born. Two of these are remarkable 
for their names, which were, His-augustness-trury-conqueror-I-conquer- 
conquering-swift-heavenly-great-great-ears, and Her-augustness-prin- 
cess-of-the-island-of- the- offing. 

MYTH OF THE SUN-GODDESS. 

We now come to the great and most interesting myth of the Sun- 
goddess. From it may be traced the origin and significance of many 
customs still followed in Japan, and the meaning of the myth itself is 
a subject worthy of speculation and research. Susano performed many 
wicked acts and caused much destruction to fields and watercourses.* 
In heaven he broke a hole in the roof of the weaving room where the 
Sun- goddess and other goddesses were at work weaving the garments 
of the deities. He let fall into their midst a heavenly horse which he 
had flayed. This caused a great commotion among them and Ama- 
terasu retired into a cave and closed the entrance with a stone. The 
plain of high heaven was obscured and darkness reigned over the 
earth. Then the eight hundred myriad! deities assembled in the dry, 
stony bed of the tranquil river of heaven to devise a means to entice 
the goddess from the cave. Various plans were proposed, but Omoki- 
kane-no-kami was a great thinker, and his plan was followed. So they 
made a mirror of iron from the mine of heaven, in shape like the sun, 
and a string of five hundred curved jewels eight feet in length, and 
pulled up by its roots a Gleyera Japonica with five hundred branches, 
upon which they hung the mirror and the string of beads and offerings 
of white and blue cloth. They then resorted to divination by means 
of a foreleg of a buck placed in a fire of cherry bark, and examined 
the crack produced. Then the deity Ama-no-futo-dama-no-mikoto took 
the tree with its offering in his hands and recited liturgies, while 
another played on a bamboo flute and another on a kind of harp made 
by placing six bows with their strings upward,! and others kept time 
by striking two pieces of wood together. Bonfires were lighted, and a 
deity known as Usume, the Heavenly-alarming-female, placed a circular 
box or sounding board before the cave and danced upon it as though 

* From the narrative one would suppose that Japan was inhabited at this myth- 
ical period by people who cultivated the soil, marked out fields, etc. The story of 
the eight-headed serpent and tbe old couple with eight children (page 500) and many 
other allusions lead to tbe same conclusion, 

t The number means a great many. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 499 

possessed, and allowed her clothing to fall, whereat all the assembled 
deities laughed until the plain of heaven shook. 

Hearing the noise and laughter the goddess within the cave was 
astonished and fain would know the cause of mirth so unseemly during 
her seclusion. She cautiously peeped out and said: u Methought that 
owing to my retirement the plain of heaven would be dark ; how is it, 
then, that the Heavenly- alarming- fern ale makes merry and that the 
deities all laugh V Usume replied, u We rejoice and are glad because 
there is a deity more illustrious than thine Augustness." By this was 
meant the iron mirror, which we therefore infer was a new invention, 
never before seen by the goddess. At the same moment the mirror 
was thrust before the face of Amaterasu, whereat she was so astonished 
that she stepped forth to gaze in it. Then a deity who stood beside 
the door seized her hand and pulled her forward, when another drew a 
straw rope behind her and said, "Thou must not go back farther than 
this." Thus heaven and the Central Land of Reed Plains (Japan) 
became light once more. 

The retirement of Amaterasu may signify an eclipse of the sun, which 
the Japanese still regard with terror. They light candles, recite pray- 
ers, and make a fearful din by beating gongs and kettles to dispel the 
darkness. Perhaps it symbolizes the change of seasons, Amaterasu 
representing summer and Susano winter. The meaning is still obscure. 

The myth has given origin to many practices which are familiar to 
persons who have traveled observantly in the country. The cut paper 
goliei, which hang on every temple and every household shrine, often 
attached to short wands of wood, represent the offerings of cloth on 
the bush with five hundred branches. The dance of Usume before the 
cave is undoubtedly represented by the pantomimic Icagura, danced by 
young girls at the temples of Ise and elsewhere. The mask of Usume 
is frequently seen in Japanese homes. The music to be heard at Shinto 
shrines on any matsuri or festival day is of very ancient character, 
while the bamboo flute and the two pieces of wood are but too con- 
spicuous on all occasions. 

The straw rope is to be seen everywhere: on temple gateways, in 
festoons around shrines, along the fronts of houses, over doorways, 
usually having goliei entwined with it. This is particularly true at the 
New Year time. The goliei are commonly regarded as emblems of purity, 
while the straw rope protects against the entrance of evil. When on 
certain occasions the emblems of a shrine are removed from their places 
they are protected from evil influences by a straw rope around them. 
The custom of suspending a straw rope over doorways may be attrib- 
uted to Susano. It is related that he was once overtaken by a storm 
and found shelter with a poor villager. In return for his kindness 
Susano told the villager how to protect himself and his family from a 
plague which was coming, by wearing a belt of twisted grass. He also 
taught him to guard against further visits of the plague god by stretch- 
ing a straw rope across the entrance to his house. 



500 

The original sacred mirror made in heaven now rests in a box, wrap- 
ped in many folds of silk, in the principal shrine at Ise, a most precious 
emblem of the deity. The silk wrappings are never removed, but as 
they become worn new ones are added outside. This mirror has a flaw 
which was caused by striking it against a rock when it was held before 
the goddess. How it came to its present place we shall learn further on. 

Counterparts of this mirror are to be found in nearly every Shinto 
shrine ; but, contrary to the usual belief of travelers, the mirror is not 
always visible in Shinto temples. The sacred emblem, whether it be a 
mirror or something else, is always hidden from sight in the purest 
Shinto shrines. 

THE SUSANO MYTH — THE SACRED SWORD OF ISE. 

We must now follow the adventures of Susano. He was subse- 
quently sent by Amaterasu to visit the goddess of Food.* She set 
before him some food, but he deemed it unclean, and, with his usual 
inconsiderate impetuosity, he forthwith cut off her head and reported 
the occurrence to Amaterasu. From the body of the deity grew va- 
rious grains and seeds of every kind, mulberry-trees, and silkworms, 
and all these things were afterwards grown in the field of heaven, and 
from thence, in due time, transmitted to Japan. 

Finally Susano was banished from heaven and took up his abode in 
Idzumo,tin the west of Japan. His adventure therewith the great 
eight-headed serpent is known to every Japanese child. There was an 
old couple who had eight daughters, seven of whom had been devoured 
in succession by a serpent which had eight heads and eight tails, and 
whose body covered seven hills. They besought Susano to kill the 
monster lest it should take the last daughter, and he agreed to do so if 
he might afterwards make the daughter his wife. The parents con- 
sented, and he immediately transformed the daughter into a fine-tooth 
comb, which he stuck in his hair. He then directed them to prepare 
eight vats of liquor. When the serpent came it plunged a head into 
each vat and drank, then all the heads laid down and slept. Then 
Susano killed it, but when he tried to cut the middle tail his sword 
broke, and he found within the tail a great sword, which he carried to 
the Sun-goddess. This is the sacred sword of the Ise shrines. It was 

*She is known as O-getsu-hime, Uke-mochi-no-kami, and Toyo-uke-bime. Her 
shrine is at Ise. 

t There are families in Japan who trace their ancestry to Susano in Idzumo. This 
province is the part of Japan which seems to have been the earliest home of the 
Japanese. It is the scene of their ancient traditions and was perhaps their home 
until the famous Jimmu Tenno, in the seventh century b. c., began his march to 
Yamato, subduing savage deities and people on his way. The antiquarian would 
doubtless find many interesting relics in the ancient province, which offers an 
almost unopened field for exploration. My friend Mr. Gowland found there some of 
the finest and most remarkable tombs, quite different from any elsewhere known in 
Japan, but his time was too limited for extended observations. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 501 

conferred upon Mnigi when he came from heaven to govern the coun- 
try, as we shall see farther on. 

The names " Grass cutter" and " Herb-quelling sword," Avhich are 
often applied to this weapon, come from a later time when, in the reign 
of Keiko (A. D. 71-130), Yamato-take took the blade from Ise to use in 
subduing the savage tribes in the east and north. He was drawn into 
an ambush and his enemies set fire to the herbage on all sides of him. 
He mowed away the grass — or, it is said, the blade leaped from the 
scabbard and itself cut the grass around — and started a counter fire 
which saved his life. 

HEAVENLY PRINCES SENT TO SUBDUE TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. 

The record now tells 01 a great number of deities who were necessary 
to care for the world and make it fruitful, but most of them can be 
passed without mention. 

After a time there began to be trouble in Japan because of the nu- 
merous savage terrestrial deities, and a consultation w r as held in heaven 
to determine who should be sent down to govern the world. O-kuni- 
nushi was then the Deity-master-of-the-great-land, and a very power- 
ful ruler he was. A prince was sent down to control him, but he made 
friends instead and failed to make any report. A second was sent, 
but he married one of the princesses and strove to gain possession of 
the land himself. A third came down in the form of a pheasant and 
perched in a cassia tree, where he began to talk. The princess hearing 
the words, besought her husband to kill the bird, which he did with 
his heavenly arrow. But the arrow ascended to heaven where it was 
recognized as belonging to the faithless prince. Then one of the deities 
thrust it back through the hole by which it entered heaven, saying : 
u If this arrow be shot by the prince in obedience to our commands, let 
it not hit him. If he has a foul heart let him perish by this arrow. 77 
So the arrow struck the prince and killed him. 

Finally the powerful O-kuui-nushi was subdued, but as a condition 
of his submission he required a temple to be built for him in Idzumo, 
where he might receive proper services of worship, the pillars of which 
should reach from the nethermost rock bottom to the cross-beams in 
the plain of high heaven. O-kuni-nushi became the ruler of Hades, 
and as such is worshiped and propitiated. The temple built for him 
in Idzumo is the famous O-yashiro, well known to pilgrims in that land. 

THE MIKAD0 7 S DIVINE ANCESTORS. 

The grandson of the Sun-goddess then descended to rule in Japan. 
His name was Mnigi-no-mikoto. With him descended a numerous 
company, and from him and his train the imperial family and the Japan- 
ese people trace their ancestry and base their claim to a divine origiu. 
Ninigi bore, as the insignia of heavenly authority, the mirror which had 



502 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 

allured the Sim -goddess from her cave, the string of sacred jewels, and 
the sword found by Susano in the serpent's tail. The Sun-goddess 
charged hiin thus : " Regard this mirror exactly as if it were our august 
spirit, and reverence it as if reverencing us." Transubstantiation is an 
older idea among Japanese than among our own priests. 

THE FIRST MIKADO. 

A pleasing story follows about the beautiful Princess-blossoming-bril- 
liantly-like- the flowers-of- the- trees, who bore three sons named Fire- 
shine, Fire-climax and Fire- subside. The first lost his brother's fish- 
hook in the sea and though he made five hundred others to replace it, 
his brother would not be satisfied. So Fire- subside sailed in a boat to 
a palace built of fish scales, the abode of an ocean deity, and there fell 
in love with the Sea-god's daughter. After three years he told the 
story of the fishhook. The Sea-god called together all the fishes of the 
sea and the hook was found in the throat of a tai. The Prince was 
sent home on the back of a crocodile, and gave the hook to his brother. 
The Princess, his wife, bore him a son named His-Augustness-Heaven's- 
sure-height-prince- wave-limit- brave-cormorant- thatch - meeting - incom- 
pletely. This son with an unusual name married his maternal aunt and 
begot children, one of whom was His-Augustness-Divine-Yamato-Prince, 
who is the recognized first Mikado, better known by his posthumous 
title Jimmu Tenno, whose reign is reputed to have been from b. c. 660 
to B. c. 585, when he died at the age of 127 years. 

From this point on the Kojiki is a record of the emperors down to 
the time of Suiko (A. D. 593 to 628). For a thousand years, to the time 
of Richiu (A. d. 400), the chronology is quite as uncertain as the events 
recorded. In the earliest times numerous terrestrial deities ruled the 
country, who either freely submitted to the emperors or were compelled 
to do so. We read that as Jimmu Tenno advanced to subdue the bar- 
barian tribes in the north and east, the Earth -spiders, with tails, and 
the savages called Ebisu,* supposed to be the Ainos, he was guided 
across the waters of the Inland Sea (?) by a friendly deity riding on a 
tortoise, and, as the bad deities were still numerous on the land, a great 
crow was sent from heaven to lead him. 

SHINTO AS A RELIGION. 

I have thus endeavored to present in an intelligible and connected 
form the salient features of the mythology of Shinto. It has been no 
light task to worry through the details of it as found in the Kojiki and 
other books and make a readable story. Fantastic as it all is, there 
is still a thread of connection from the beginning which enforces the 



* For a re'sume' of our knowledge of these x>eople, see the author's memoirs on The 
Ainos of Yezo and on The Pit-Dwellers of Yezo. Report of U. S. National Museum, 
1890. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 503 

conviction that it is not an idle invention of the fancy, hut rather a 
product of slow development. We can not go far enough hack in time 
to discover its origin. From the very first we find a long line of special- 
ized kami. There is very little in it that can be traced to other lands, 
and that little not very confidently. It is Japanese in its inception and 
has remained so. We may imagine that it is an outgrowth of some 
primitive form of sun worship, for the sun is still adored as the source 
of light and life — the great ancestor of the emperor and x>eople. After- 
wards the phenomena of nature came to be represented by kami, and 
the original functions and attributes of these have become changed and 
forgotten. 

Ancestral worship is one of its great features. The spirits of the 
dead are believed to live about their tombs or in temples built for them. 
They are Kami, dwelling in the unseen world around us, with power 
to influence the fortunes and destiny of the living. The object of all 
worship is to insure protection from evil and success in the affairs of 
the present. Future rewards and punishments are not offered to make 
men good. The ruler of the under world has it in his power to make 
the entering spirits more or less uncomfortable, and he should there- 
fore be propitiated by prayers and offerings, to secure his favor. 

But there certainly is a future life, although it has been denied by 
some, who think that because there is no dread torture chamber for the 
wicked or land of eternal happiness for the good, there can be no thought 
of a future. But the Shintoist has no fear of death. To him "Life has 
no more consistency than a dream, and no trace of it remains." The future 
life is totally distinct from the present and a Japanese is not good be- 
cause he fears eternal fire and torment. Evil and good are both clearly 
recognized. One of the great annual ceremonies is that of purification. 
If there is no written code of morals, a Japanese writer defends his 
faith by saying that "only immoral people like the Chinese require a 
system of moral teaching." Every event is attributed to an act of the 
gods. If anything goes wrong in the world, if the wicked prosper and 
the good suffer misfortune, it is because the evil gods are sometimes too 
strong for Amaterasu to restrain them. "The Chinese were ignorant 
of this fact and were driven to invent the theory of heaven's decrees." 

The Japanese child learns the Irova as our own children do the 
alphabet, and these are the thoughts instilled by their earliest teach- 
ing and which are ever before them in after life : 

Color and odor alike pass away. 

In our world nothing is permanent. 

The present day has disappeared in the profound abyss of nothingness. 

It was but the pale image of a dream ; it causes us not the least regret. 

The traveler in Japan is often astonished to find houses of pleasure 
lining the principal thoroughfares leading to the great temples. It is 
scandalous to observe how carnal pleasures are associated with religious 
worship. But as there are bad deities to be propitiated, these houses 



504 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 

and theaters and dancing stages entertain them well and, moreover, the 
good deities are pleased when the people are happy. 

In the early days of foreign intercourse, when the Dutch were con- 
lined at Nagasaki, and every means was taken to prevent them from 
learning about the people and the country, the indefatigable Kaempfer 
Avas able to gain some insight into their religious beliefs. His ac- 
count is as follows: "The more immediate end which the followers of 
this religion propose to themselves is a state of happiness in this world. 
They have indeed some, though but obscure and imperfect, notions 
of the immortality of our souls, and a future state of bliss or misery; 
and yet as little mindful they are of what will become of them in that 
future state, so great is their care and attention to worship those gods, 
whom they believe to have a peculiar share in the government and 
management of this world, with a more immediate influence, each ac- 
cording to his functions, over the occurrences and necessities of human 
life — and although they acknowledge a Supreme Being, which, as they 
believe, dwells in the highest of Heaven, and though they likewise 
admit of some inferior gods whom they place among the stars, yet 
they do not worship and adore them, nor have they any festival days 
sacred to them, thinking that beings which are so much above us will 
little concern themselves about our affairs. " 

This is a remarkably correct summary by a man who could not have 
known anything about the mythology itself. The " Supreme Being" 
is the Sun- goddess, but it is strange that in a system dealing so largely 
with the sun and moon the stars should not be conspicuously mentioned. 

The department of religion thus summed up the requirements of the 
Shinto faith in 1872:* 

1. Thou shalt honor the gods and love thy country. 

2. Thou shalt clearly understand the principles of heaven and the duty of man. 

3. Thou shalt revere the Mikadot as thy sovereign and ohey the will of his court. 

INFLUENCE OF SHINTO UPON THE NATIONAL CHARACTER. 

The religion of a people dominates their thoughts. This fact too fre- 
quently leads to a totally erroneous interpretation. It is the thoughts, 
fears, beliefs and dreams of a people which have made their religion. 
This, when formed into a system, either by natural growth or by the 
labor of an organized priesthood, becomes an expression of the religious 
thoughts and feelings at the time — otherwise a system so formed would 
be rejected by the people. Once accepted it becomes the dominating 

* Griffis : The Mikado's Empire. 

t Implicit obedience to the Mikado is required. It is admitted that he may not 
always be good, but as his real character is that of a god, his authority is never to 
be disputed. It is a remarkable fact that never during the history of Japan have 
the people knowingly rebelled against or opposed the will of the Mikado. They 
have been misled at times by designing leaders, but in intent they have ever been 
faithful. The possession of the Mikado's person has always been a source of strength 
to either of the contending forces. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 505 

influence and because religious thought is always narrow and conserv- 
ative, it is usually much behind the intelligence of its adherents, 
although retaining its influence and authority. 

With this understanding clearly before us it may be asked if the 
Japanese people believe this wonderful record of the origin of them- 
selves and their country and how much it has influenced their char- 
acter as a nation. Do our own people believe the book of Genesis, or 
the text of their own scriptures ? How long does it take for a faith that 
has grown during centuries to die away ? The idea that the Japanese 
are a people who have so assimilated and digested foreign knowledge 
as to be able to think as we do is most erroneous. There are many 
educated Japanese who believe, or still pretend to believe, in the divine 
descent of the Mikado, and who accept the national chronology from 
Jimmu Tenno down. But after all, this is no more absurd than many 
beliefs of our own good people, and we must not forget that we too 
have houses of glass. It is scarcely a quarter of a century since the 
following words were published by the Mikado; "I am concerned 
standing as I do, between Tensho-Daijin (Amaterasu) and my peo- 
ple." "My house, that from Jimmu Tenno on to the present day has 
ruled over Dai Mppon (Great Japan), according to the will of the gods." 
His is thus the oldest dynasty on earth, his family having ruled Japan 
for 2,550 years, tracing its ancestry for still 10,000 years back, to the 
creation of the world. 

It is an old notion of the Japanese that they are superior to all other 
nations and a strange chapter might be written upon the consequences 
past and present of that belief. It is so essentially a part of Japanese 
character that it cannot be immediately outgrown. At the basis of it lies 
the Shinto faith. How true this is, and how firmly grounded the conceit 
is may be learned from the native writings in defence of Shinto. The 
subject is of interest as showing to what an extent the Japanese char- 
acter conforms to the spirit of the ancient teachings, and it becomes 
of the greatest importance that we should understand it well in our 
political and social intercourse with the Japanese. They have a well- 
known story of Wasaubi^auwe. which points a moral they would do 
well to heed. 

The utmost efforts of the Shinto writers have been put forth to 
belittle Japan's indebtedness to China for letters and philosophy. The 
following quotations are given without regard to authority or chrono- 
logical order, but the latest date from early in this century. A doubt- 
ing critic asserts that there must have been total darkness before 
the sun was born, a fact inconsistent with the statement that plants 
already existed at the time. The answer is worthy of certain logicians 
of our own time and country: " Although she (the sun) will continue 
to shine as long as heaven and earth endure, she was born in Japan, 
and her descendants rule over the empire to this day. The difficulty 
of reconciling the statements that the world was plunged into darkness 



506 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 

when she retired into a cavern and that darkness did not exist before 
slie was born, is one that would strike a child's intelligence. The critic 
need not make so much fnss about this point, as if it were an entirely 
new discovery of his own. The very inconsistency is the proof of the 
authenticity of the record, for who would have gone out of his way to 
invent a story apparently so ridiculous and incredible. The acts of 
the gods are not explained by ordinary principles." (Translation of 
E. Satow.) 

China suffers rather severely at the hands of the Japanese critics. 
One of them thus disposes of a very ancient tradition: "There is a 
tradition in China that the left and right eyes of Puanku became the 
sun and the moon, which is, however, usually discredited, because 
the natives of that country, being admirers of false knowledge, assign 
the origin of these two luminaries to the positive and negative 
essences. The real truth is, that the sun and the moon were produced 
when Izanagi washed his eyes after returning from his search after 
Izanami in the nether world. The tradition has evidently traveled to 
China and assumed the perverted form in which we find it there." 
(Satow.) What infinite assurance! The story was current in China 
before the Japanese began to exist as a nation. But this is only an 
introduction. We add more quotations without further remarks. 

" People who have been misled by their foreign studies are wont to 
say that Japan is a little country, as if extent of territory were any 
criterion of the importance or rank of a state." 

a From the fact of the divine descent of the Japanese people proceeds 
their immeasurable superiority to the natives of other countries in 
courage and intelligence." 

u It was not out of vainglory that the inhabitants of this country 
called it the land of the gods. The gods who created all countries 
belonged to the Divine Age and were all born in Japan, so that Japan 
is their native country and all the world acknowledges the appropri- 
ateness of the title. The Koreans were the first to become acquainted 
with this truth," etc. 

"As it was Japan which lay directly opposite the sun when it 
separated from the earth, it is quite clear that Japan lies on the summit 
of the globe." 

" Foreign countries were of course produced by the power of the cre- 
ator gods, but they were not begotten by Izanagi and Izanami, nor did 
they give birth to the goddess of the sun, which is the cause of their 
inferiority. The traditions about the origin of the world which are 
presented in foreign countries are naturally incorrect, just as the 
accounts of an event which has happened at the capital become dis- 
torted when they travel to a province and it comes to be believed that 
the province was the scene of the event." (Satow.) 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 507 

LITURGIES AND FORM OF WORSHIP. 

The services at the temples consist in the repetition of prayers and 
rituals of prescribed form, with prostrations and presentation of offer- 
ings. The pure Shinto ceremonial is now but rarely seen, and only at 
two or three famous shrines. In the old time there was no priesthood, 
but the principal duty of the Mikado was the celebration of the rites. 
In the seventh century the Emperor Kotoku said to his minister, "First 
serve the gods, afterwards consider matters of government." The Mi- 
kado was the chief priest, and the person who at a later date read the 
liturgies at the capital was a descendant of one of the deities who came 
from heaven with Mnigi. The priestly office is still hereditary in the 
same family or tribe named Nakatomi.* 

The officers in charge of Shinto shrines wear ordinary clothing, over 
which when they officiate they throw a priestly robe of white. 

Shinto seems to have been a well-organized religious system at an 
early day. The book of ceremonial law, published in the year 927, 
contains much relating to the Shinto worship, including the ceremonies 
for special occasions, organization of the priesthood, services at the 
Ise temples, a list of temples entitled to government support, and the 
chief norito or rituals. This book was several times reprinted — the 
last time in 1723 — by order of the Government. Among the liturgies 
it contains Mr. Satow enumerates the following : 

Service of the praying for harvest. 

Service of the goddess of food. 

Service of the goddess of wind. 

Service of the temple of Inaki. 

General purification on the last day of the sixth month. 

Harvest festival. 

Service of the temples of Ise. 
The offerings to be made at the shrines are also prescribed. In the 
old time the praying for harvest was celebrated on the fourth day of the 
second month. The ministers of state, officers of the Shinto religion, 
the priests and priestesses of the temples maintained by the Mikado, 
assembled at the office for the worship of the Shinto gods, while through- 
oat the country the chiefs of the local administrations and governors of 
provinces led the worship at other shrines. The articles offered included 
silk and hemp cloth, models of swords, a spear-head, a shield, bow and 
quiver, edible seaweed, salt, sake, and to each of the temples at Ise a 
horse for the god to ride, a cock to tell the time and a domesticated 
boar for food. In ancient times curved jewels or beads (magatama) 
were offered. 

* Up to the year 1868 the nominal prime minister of the Mikado belonged to this 
family, which in the seventh century changed its name to Fujiwara, famous in 
Japanese history. 



508 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 

An abstract from one of the rituals, taken from Mr. Satow's transla- 
tions, will sufficiently indicate their style and character: 

" I declare in the presence of the sovran gods of the harvest. If the 
sovran gods will bestow in many bundled ears and in luxuriant ears 
the late ripening harvest which they will bestow, the late ripening 
harvest which will be produced by the dripping of foam from the 
arms,* . . . then I will fulfill their praises by setting up the first 
fruits in a thousand ears, . . . raising high the beer-jars, filling 
and ranging in rows the bellies of the beer -jars, I will present themt 
in juice and in ear." 

Following this come further declarations and promises of offerings to 
numerous Kami, whose names are recited as Divine Producer, Fulfill- 
ing Producer, Lofty Producer, Vivifying Producer, Great Goddess of 
Food and others, because these grant a " luxuriant age." The ritual 
is of universal application and is used when the Mikado makes his 
offerings to the great shrines of the national Kami. 

Besides the liturgies we find prayers, as this : u l say with awe, deign 
to bless me by correcting the unwitting faults which, seen and heard by 
you, I have committed, by blowing off and clearing away the calamities 
which evil gods might inflict, by causing me to live long like the hard 
and lasting rock, and by repeating to the gods of heavenly origin and 
the gods of earthly origin the petitions which I present every day, 
along with your breath, that they may hear with the sharp-earedness 
of the forth- galloping colt." (Satow.) 

This prayer is addressed to the gods of wind at Tatsuta, in Yamato. 
There is in it a confession of sinfulness and the idea of divine interces- 
sion, the petition being at least borne on the winds, the breath of the 
deities, to more distant Kami. 

Home worship is conducted before a simple household shrine known 
as the leami-dana. The deities are too numerous to be all mentioned. 
It is only necessary to name the principal ones and to address the 
others in a general prayer ; or one may simply adore the residence of 
the Mikado, the kami-dana, the spirits of ancestors, the local patron 
god and the deity presiding over one's calling in life. 

The ancient sun worship can be witnessed at the hour of sunrise 
throughout Japan in the streets, in the doorways, on bridges and in 
the fields. Once I was at Ise and I walked, with a thousand pilgrims, 
to witness a glorious sunrise over the sea and the famous rocks at Futa- 
ga-ura. There they gather every morning and greet the nation's god, 
at a spot famed in native art and story and there they find an inspira- 
tion in the scene, which appeals to the Japanese innate sense of the 
beautiful in nature, if not to a deep religious sentiment, which perhaps 
they do not possess. 

* Referring to the dripping from the arms of the laborers in setting out the rice 
plants in flooded fields. 
t The first fruits. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 509 

TENDENCY OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT IN JAPAN. 

If the forms and ceremonies of worship among heathen peoples, and 
among the illiterate in our own land, are not an exaggerated indica- 
tion of the reverence and religious sentiment of the worshipers, we 
can well understand how religions have ever exercised a controlling in- 
fluence upon mankind. But in Japan the religious sentiment has not 
been strong. The people may believe in the efficacy of prayer and 
they are quite as devout in the formal observances of their religion as 
need be to insure prosperity and long life. They make long pilgrim- 
ages to famous shrines and offer daily prayers before ancestral tab- 
lets. But there is not much feeling or sentiment about such worship. 

Christianity is supposed to be making its way, but it can never gain 
a strong footing in either Japan or China. The statistics of converts 
given by the missionaries are entirely misleading. Christianity is not 
adapted to the Japanese character. Its gruesome teachings of a 
jealous God ruling supreme over the destinies of man, whose justice 
is without mercy, involving a hell and eternal torment, will never be 
received by them. The new teaching is having some influence, 
although not what is intended by its ministers. It is destroying the 
last vestiges of faith in the religion of the country and offering 
nothing acceptable in return. The consequence is, that the Japa- 
nese are becoming, through the misdirected zeal of Christian mission- 
aries, sustained by the Avidow's mites and children's pennies from home 
Sunday schools, a nation of independent, liberal thinkers on religious 
subjects. It is the nature of man, however, to have some form of re- 
ligion ; therefore, it is not improbable that eventually the Japanese 
will evolve, out of the elements of their own mythology, the teachings 
of Confucius, Buddha and Christ, a new faith which will prove accept- 
able to the people. They may go even further than this and by 
adopting the teachings of Christ, shorn of the theological travesties of 
modern Christianity, give to the world a new religion worthy of the age. 
I believe them capable of accomplishing such a work. 

No account of the religion of Japan can be complete without a de- 
scription of the temples which are scattered in great numbers over the 
land, but owing to the length of this article already and also to the 
fact that the author is too far from home to select and arrange the illus- 
trations necessary to a proper understanding of temple architecture, 
it is deemed best to defer this part of the subject until his return home. 

Tientsin, China, 1891. 






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